Machine for shredding cheese and for depositing the cheese onto pizzas

ABSTRACT

A block of pizza cheese is shredded by a power-rotated cutter as the cheese is swept upwardly past the cutter. The resulting free falling cheese flakes are spread uniformly across an unbaked pizza by a paddle which swings over the pizza and beneath the cutter as the cheese is moved upwardly.

United States Patent Westling 1 May 16, 1972 541 MACHINE FOR SHREDDINGCHEESE [561 References CM AND FOR DEPOSITING THE CHEESE UNITED STATESPATENTS ONTO PIZZAS 1,411,634 4/1922 Lambdin ..146/89 72 I t 1 Do ald E.wesmn 2432 Iva com-t, 2,277,248 3/1942 Nardi .l46/l77 1 Wis 535112,481,336 9/1949 Orlando.... ....146/177 x 2,793,666 5/1957 Gheiner....146/177 X [22] Filed: Apr. 1, 1970 3,502,125 3/1970 Desnick ..146/78[2]] Appl' 24654 Primary Examiner-James R. Boler Attorney-Wolfe,Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann, Ltd [52] U.S.Cl ..99/450.l, [46/177 1 511111.01 ..A2lc 5/00 [57] ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search l 07/1-4; 100/93,A block of pizza cheese is shredded by a power-rotated cutter 100/215 T;31/5, 28; 146/106, 1 1'7, 77, 78, 89; as the cheese is swept upwardlypast the cutter. The resulting 1 free falling cheese flakes are spreaduniformly across an unbaked pizza by a paddle which swings over thepizza and beneath the cutter as the cheese is moved upwardly.

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SHEET 3 BF 4 MACHINE FOR SHREDDING CHEESE AND FOR DEPOSITING THE CHEESEONTO PIZZAS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to amachine for shredding cheese and for depositing the cheese onto pizzas.More particularly, the invention relates to a machine for shreddingblock-type pizza cheese.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary aim of the present invention is toprovide a new and comparatively simple and inexpensive machine of theabove character which is operable to shred the cheese more rapidly andefficiently and to spread the cheese more uniformly across the pizzathan has been possible heretofore. In large, these ends are achievedthrough the provision of a machine in which the cheese is swept past apower-rotated cutter and is shredded into flakes which fall in freeflight toward the pizza and are spread across the latter by a deflectingpaddle adapted to be swung beneath the cutter'and over the pizza intimed relation with the sweeping movement of the cheese.

The invention also resides in the unique orientation of the cheese blockrelative to the cutter to facilitate uniform dis tribution ofsubstantially equal amounts of cheese flakes across the entire pizza andin the ease of adapting the machine to handle pizzas of different sizes.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a newand improved machine embodying the novel features of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 3 but showing certain partsof the machine in moved positions. 7

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the parts in stillfurther moved positions.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line6-6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of parts shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line88 ofFIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present inventionis incorporated in a new and improved machine 10 of relatively simpleand inexpensive construction for rapidly shredding a block 11 (FIG. 3)of pizza cheese of rectangular cross-section and for automatically anduniformly spreading the resulting cheese flakes across an unbaked pizza13. The pizzas may be delivered to the machine manually or fedone-by-one beneath the machine along a conveyor 14 as shown in FIG. 1.

The machine 10 includes a frame disposed above the conveyor l4 andformed by four upstanding angle bars 15 interconnected by straps l6 andby a pair of top support plates 17. To shred the cheese 11, a cutter isjournaled for rotation about a horizontal axis by a bearing 21 (FIG. 2)on one of the top plates and is power-rotated by an electric motor 23supported on the other top plate. The cutter includes three angularlyspaced blades 24 formed with serrated cutting edges and anchored to acentral shaft 25, the latter being connected to the motor.

In order to shave the cheese uniformly off of the block 11 and topromote uniform distribution of the cheese across the entire pizza 13,the cheese and the cutter 20 are moved relative to one another in anovel manner to cause the rotating cutter to sweep across the entire endface of the cheese. While such relative movement could be produced bymoving the cutter bodily past the cheese, it herein is effected byswinging the cheese upwardly and downwardly across the cutter whileholding the latter at a fixed elevation. Thus, the block of cheese isdisposed within a box-like support or casing 26 (FIGS. 1 and 3) which issuspended by brackets 27 from the underside of a plate 29 spanning apair of arms 30 extending fore-and-aft of the machine 10. The rear endsof the arms are pivoted to swing about horizontally disposed pins 31which are fastened to brackets 33 projecting upwardly from the topplates 17. Up and down swinging of the arms 30, and thus the cheese 11,is effected by a pair of air cylinders 34 (FIG. 1) fastened to thestraps 16 and connected to links 35 which are pivoted to the forwardends of the arms. Actuation of the air cylinders herein is controlled bya hand-operated valve 36 (FIG. 2) supported on one of the top plates.

Initially, the cheese 11 and the arms 30 are disposed in loweredpositions as shown in FIG. 3 with the rear end face of the cheeseprojecting outwardly a short distance beyond the rear end of the casing26 and located in a shredding position. With a pizza 13 positionedbeneath the cutter 20, the cylinders 34 are actuated to swing the armsand the cheese upwardly, the rear end face of the cheese moving upwardlyin a path which curves arcuately about the pins 31. As an incident tothe upward swinging of the arms, a spring-biased switch 37 (FIG. 2)underlying the plate 29 is released and energizes the motor 23 to startthe cutter rotating in a clockwise direction (FIG. 3). Thus, the cheesesweeps progressively upwardly across the cutter as shown in FIGS. 4 and5 as the blades 24 rotate past the end face of the cheese and shred thelatter into very fine flakes which fall downwardly onto the pizza. Therear end face of the cheese block is shaved uniformly from top to bottomand is left with a concave configuration by virtue of the cheese beingswung upwardly past the cutter in an arcuate path. After the upwardstroke of the cheese has been completed, the air cylinders 34 arede-actuated to allow the arms 30 and the cheese to return to theirlowered positions, the switch 37 being engaged by the plate 29 andde-energizing the motor when the arms are lowered.

Before being again swung upwardly past the cutter 20, the cheese block11 is fed rearwardly toward the cutter a predetermined distance so thatadditional cheese will be in position to be shredded during the nextcutting stroke. For this purpose, a rod 40 (FIG. 3) with a crank 41 onone end thereof is threaded into a plate 43 anchored to the forward endof the casing 26 and is rotatably connected to a pusher 44 which isfitted slidably in the casing in abutment with the forwardface of thecheese. By rotating the crank through an appropriate number of turns,the pusher will feed the cheese rearwardly of the casing through thedistance necessary to present to the cutter the amount of cheese desiredto be spread over the pizza 13. Advantageously, several laterally spacedblades 45 (FIGS. 3 and 6) span the top and bottom walls of the casingadjacent the rear end thereof. The blades slice the rear end face of thecheese block into side-to-side sections as the cheese is fed rearwardlyand, more importantly, engage the cheese to prevent the latter frombeing pulled out of the casing and into the cutter by the rotary motionundertaken by the blades 24 during shredding of the cheese.

An important feature of the invention resides in the uniform spreadingof the shredded cheese across the full face of the pizza 13 so that thecheese will be distributed evenly from the center of the pizza to therim thereof. These ends are achieved in part by a baffle 50 (FIG. 3)which coacts with the cutter 20 to cause the first flakes of cheeseshredded by the cutter to be directed to the rear portion of the pizzaand which thereafter tends to direct the subsequent flakes from rear tofront across the pizza.

As shown most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, the baffle 50 is a plate-likemember which is connected to a bar 51 spanning the arms 30 and which islocated on the side of the cutter 20 opposite the cheese 11. The baffleis curved arcuately about the axis of the pins 31 and thus presents aconvex face to the cutter. When the cheese block is in its loweredposition (FIG. 3), the lower end of the bafile is directed generallytoward the rear of the machine 10 so as to direct the initially shreddedcheese onto the rear portion of the pizza 13. The baffle swings upwardlywith the cheese block as the latter is raised such that the lower end ofthe baffle moves into progressively more upright positions (see FIGS. 4and 5) to help direct the subsequently shredded cheese across the centerand forward portions of the pizza. If desired, air tubes 53 (FIGS. 2 and3) may be spaced across the forward face of the baffle to shootdownwardly directed jets of compressed air therealong for I purposes ofaccelerating the fall of the cheese flakes. Also, a second baffle 54(FIG. 3) concentric with the bafile 50 preferably is disposed at theforward side of the cutter and is secured to the casing 26 to preventthe cheese flakes from flying forwardly of the machine. The two bafflesthus coact with one another to define a chute leading downwardly fromthe cutter. The sides of the chute-are enclosed by guards 52 (FIGS. 3and 7) which are secured to the top plates 17 to prevent the flakes fromescaping laterally of the machine.

. Spreading of the cheese flakes uniformly across the pizza 13 isfacilitated greatly by a unique paddle 55 (FIGS. 3 and 7) which swingsforwardly beneath the baffle 50 as the cheese block 11 is swung upwardlyand which deflects the downwardly falling cheese forwardly of thebaffle. As shown most clearly in FIG. 7, the paddle comprises a sheetmetal member having a central flat portion 56 and two rearwardlydiverging wings 57 bent fron the central portion. The paddle is locatedimmediately below the baffle and is connected at its upper end to a pairof brackets 59 by a horizontal hinge pin 60, the brackets beingsuspended from the bar 51. A cam follower 61 (FIG. 3) is connectedrigidly to the upper end portion of the paddle 55 and rides along adownwardly and forwardly inclined cam 63 which is fastened to the topplates 17 and held in a stationary position. The follower 61 is pressedagainst the cam 63 by a contractile spring 64 which is stretched betweenthe paddle and one of the brackets 59 to urge the paddle clockwise aboutthe hinge pin 60.

When the cheese block 11 is in its lowered position shown in FIG. 3, thepaddle 55 is inclined slightly rearwardly so as to be nearly in linewith the baffle 50. Accordingly, the initially shredded cheese isdirected rearwardly onto the rear of the pizza 13 by the baffle and thepaddle. As the cheese block 11,

the arms 30 and the baffle 50 are swung upwardly, the paddle also israised (see FIGS. 4 and 5) and, at the same time, is swungcounterclockwise about the hinge pin 60 by virtue of the follower 61riding'upwardly along the inclined cam 63. Thus, when the verticalcenter portion of the cheese block is being shredded by the cutter 20,the paddle is inclined just slightly forwardly as shown in FIG. 4 todirect the cheese flakes falling from the bafi'le 50 onto the centerportion of the pizza. With continued upward swinging of the cheeseblock, the paddle is swung counterclockwise to progressively increasingforwardly inclined positions (see FIG. 5) to spread the cheese from thecenter portion of the pizza to the forward portion thereof. Thus, thepaddle 55 coacts with the baffle 50 to effect spreading of the cheeseacross the entire face of the pizza. The diverging wings 57 on thepaddle help spread the cheese laterally of the pizza.

To enable the distribution of nearly equal amounts of cheese over eachportion of the pizza 13, the cheese block 11 is oriented in a novelmanner relative to the cutter 20. That is, the cheese block is arrangedsuch that the rear end face thereof is presented to the cutter as adiamond rather than as a rectangle, one pair of diagonally oppositecorners of the block pointing vertically and the other pair pointinghorizontally. The block is oriented in this manner simply by positioningthe casing 26 as adiamond on the arms 30. With the cheese thus oriented,the cutter, during initial upward swinging of the.

cheese, shreds only the upper corner of the cheese and, as a result,only a comparatively small volume of flakes are produced when the baffle50 and the paddle 55 are positioned to direct the flakes to therelatively small chordal area at the rear portion of the pizza. Thevolume of flakes increases as the cheese moves upwardly and as thepaddle swings forwardly to deflect the flakes from the rear of the pizzatoward the major diameter of the pizza at the center thereof. When thecheese is at the half way point of its upward stroke, the cutter spansthe horizontally pointing corners of the cheese (see FIG. 4) andproduces the maximum volume of flakes and, at the same time, the paddle55 is positioned to deflect the flakes onto the central portion of thepizza and across the major diameter thereof where the most flakes arerequired. As the cheese moves through the last half of its upwardstroke, the volume of flakes produced progressively decreases as thelower corner of the block approaches the cutter and as the paddle swingsforwardly to deflect the flakes to the forward portion of the pizza.

Thus, the diamond-like orientation of the cheese, being correlated withthe circular shape of the pizza, helps insure that equal amounts ofcheese are spread over each portion of the pizza.

The machine 10 is easily adaptable to spread the cheese flakes ontopizzas of different sizes. As shown in FIG. 3, the cheese whichinitially falls from the cutter 20 is confined within an upper sleeve 70underlying the cutter and anchored rigidly to the straps 16. The uppersleeve has its lower end positioned about midway between the cutter 20and the pizza and is approximately equal in diameter to the diameter ofthe smallest pizza adapted to be handled by the machine 10.

Telescoped over the lower end of the upper sleeve 70 is an intermediatesleeve 71 which is disposed in a downward or active position as shown inFIG. 3 when comparatively small pizzas such as 14 inch pizzas are beingtreated. The intermediate sleeve is just slightly smaller in diameterthan a l4 inch pizza and thus confines thd downwardly falling flakes tothe small pizza.

When the cheese is to be spread over a larger pizza such as a 16 inchpizza 13a shown in FIG. 8, the intermediate sleeve 71 is shiftedupwardly to an inactive position and is retracted out of a larger outersleeve 73 which is anchored rigidly to the straps 16. Thus, the cheeseflakes, instead of being confined by the smaller intermediate sleeve,can spread outwardly to cover the large pizza as permitted by the largerouter sleeve 73. Air cylinders 74 connected between the straps l6 andears 75 on the intermediate sleeve 70 are used to raise and lower thelatter between its active and inactive positions under the control of ahand-operated valve 76 (FIG. 2) located adjacent the valve 36.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionbrings to the art a new and improved machine 10 which, while beingrelatively simple in construction and trouble-free in operation, iseffective to rapidly and automatically shred pizza cheese into fineflakes'and to'spread substantially equal amounts of the cheese uniformlyacross the entire face of the pizza. Also, the machine may be easilyconverted to handle pizzas of different sizes simply by changing theposition of the intermediate sleeve 71 relative to the lower, outersleeve 73.

I claim:

1. In a machine for shredding cheese and for depositing the cheese ontoa pizza, the combination of, a frame, a cheese support mounted on saidframe for holding a block of cheese above the pizza, means for feedingsaid cheese along said cheese support to present one face of the cheeseto a shredding position, a cutter support mounted on said frame, ashredding cutter located adjacent said shredding position and saidcheese support and mounted on said cutter support to rotate about anaxis extending transversely of said one face and the direction offeeding of the cheese, means for power rotating said cutter, and meansfor moving one of said supports relative to the other of said supportsin a direction to sweep said one face of said cheese across and relativeto said cutter and thereby shred the cheese.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1 in which said cutter rotates about agenerally horizontal axis and in which said one support is movedupwardly and downwardly relative to the other support to sweep said oneface of said cheese across and relative to said cutter.

3. A machine as defined in claim 2 further including means mounting saidone support for up and down swinging on said frame whereby said one faceof said cheese sweeps in an arcuate path across and relative to saidcutter.

4. A machine as defined in claim 3 in which said cheese support is thesupport which is mounted for up and down swinging on said frame.

5. A machine as defined in claim 2 further including means beneath thecutter for spreading the shredded cheese substantially uniformly overthe entire pizza.

6. A machine as defined in claim 3 further including a baffle curvedgenerally concentrically with said path and located on the side of thecutter opposite said one face of the cheese to deflect the cheese as thelatter is shredded by said cutter, said baffle being carried on andmovable with said one support and having a lower end which sweeps atleast partially across the pizza and spreads the cheese as said onesupport is swung relative to the other support.

7. A machine as defined in claim 6 further including a paddle supportedon said frame beneath the lower end of said bafflc and mounted to swingacross the lower end of the baffle about a generally horizontal axisparalleling said one axis so as to deflect the cheese falling from saidbaffle, and means for swinging said paddle relative to the lower end ofsaid baffle as the latter is moved by said one support thereby to spreadthe cheese across the pizza.

8. A machine as defined in claim 6 in which said paddle is carried onand moves upwardly and downwardly with said one support, saidlast-mentioned means acting automatically to swing the paddle across thelower end of the baffle in response to the swinging ofsaid one support.

9. A machine as defined in claim 2 further including a pad dle supportedon said frame beneath said cutter and mounted to swing back and forthbelow the cutter about a generally horizontal axis paralleling said oneaxis so as to deflect the cheese shredded by and falling from thecutter, and means for swinging said paddle relative to the cutter assaid one support is moved relative to said other support thereby tospread the cheese across the pizza.

10. A machine as defined in claim 5 in which a sleeve is mounted on saidframe below said cutter and extends downwardly toward said pizza, saidsleeve being approximately the same diameter as the pizza and beingoperable to confine the shredded cheese to the pizza.

11. A machine as defined in claim 10 in which a second smaller sleeve iscoaxial with said one sleeve, said second sleeve being mounted on saidframe for movement between an active position telescoped downwardlywithin said one sleeve to confine the cheese to a comparatively smallpizza, and an inactive position retracted upwardly from said one sleeveto allow the cheese to spread over a larger pizza.

12. A machine as defined in claim 5 in which said block of cheese isrectangular in cross-section, said cheese support including meanslocating said cheese with one pair of diagonally opposite corners of theblock pointing vertically and the other pair of diagonally oppositecorners pointing horizontally whereby said block is oriented as adiamond with respect to said cutter.

13. A machine as defined in claim 7 in which said block of cheese isrectangular in cross-section, said cheese support including meanslocating said cheese with one pair of diagonally opposite comers of theblock pointing vertically and the other pair of diagonally oppositecorners pointing horizontally whereby said block is oriented as adiamond with respect to said cutter, the movement of said paddle beingtimed such that said horizontal pointing corners are substantiallyspanned by said cutter at the time said paddle is positioned to spreadthe cheese across the major diameter of the pizza.

14. A machine as defined in claim 5 in which said cheese supportincludes s aced blades at one end thereof extending across the path 0advance of the cheese as the latter is fe

1. In a machine for shredding cheese and for depositing the cheese ontoa pizza, the combination of, a frame, a cheese support mounted on saidframe for holding a block of cheese above the pizza, means for feedingsaid cheese along said cheese support to present one face of the cheeseto a shredding position, a cutter support mounted on said frame, ashredding cutter located adjacent said shredding position and saidcheese support and mounted on said cutter support to rotate about anaxis extending transversely of said one face and the direction offeeding of the cheese, means for power rotating said cutter, and meansfor moving one of said supports relative to the other of said supportsin a direction to sweep said one face of said cheese across and relativeto said cutter and thereby shred the cheese.
 2. A machine as defined inclaim 1 in which said cutter rotates about a generally horizontal axisand in which said one support is moved upwardly and downwardly relativeto the other support to sweep said one face of said cheese across andrelative to said cutter.
 3. A machine as defined in claim 2 furtherincluding means mounting said one support for up and down swinging onsaid frame whereby said one face of said cheese sweeps in an arcuatepath across and relative to said cutter.
 4. A machine as defined inclaim 3 in which said cheese support is the support which is mounted forup and down swinging on said frame.
 5. A machine as defined in claim 2further including means beneath the cutter for spreading the shreddedcheese substantially uniformly over the entire pizza.
 6. A machine asdefined in claim 3 further including a baffle curved generallyconcentrically with said path and located on the side of the cutteropposite said one face of the cheese to deflect the cheese as the latteris shredded by said cutter, said baffle being carried on and movablewith said one support and having a lower end which sweeps at leastpartially across the pizza and spreads the cheese as said one support isswung relative to the other support.
 7. A machine as defined in claim 6further including a paddle supported on said frame beneath the lower endof said baffle and mounted to swing across the lower end of the baffleabout a generally horizontal axis paralleling said one axis so as todeflect the cheese falling from said baffle, and means for swinging saidpaddle relative to the lower end of said baffle as the latter is movedby said one support thereby to spread the cheese across the pizza.
 8. Amachine as defined in claim 6 in which said paddle is carried on andmoves upwardly and downwardly with said one support, said last-mentionedmeans acting automatically to swing the paddle across the lower end ofthe baffle in response to the swinging of said one support.
 9. A machineas defined in claim 2 further including a paddle supported on said framebeneath said cutter and mounted to swing back and forth below the cutterabout a generally horizontal axis paralleling said one axis so as todeflect the cheese shredded by and falling from the cutter, and meansfor swinging said paddle relative to the cutter as said one support ismoved relative to said other support thereby to spread the cheese acrossthe pizza.
 10. A machine as defined in claim 5 in which a sleeve ismounted on said frame below said cutter and extends downwardly towardsaid pizza, said sleeve being approximately the same diameter as thepizza and being operable to confine the shredded cheese to the pizza.11. A machine as defined in claim 10 in which a second smaller sleevE iscoaxial with said one sleeve, said second sleeve being mounted on saidframe for movement between an active position telescoped downwardlywithin said one sleeve to confine the cheese to a comparatively smallpizza, and an inactive position retracted upwardly from said one sleeveto allow the cheese to spread over a larger pizza.
 12. A machine asdefined in claim 5 in which said block of cheese is rectangular incross-section, said cheese support including means locating said cheesewith one pair of diagonally opposite corners of the block pointingvertically and the other pair of diagonally opposite corners pointinghorizontally whereby said block is oriented as a diamond with respect tosaid cutter.
 13. A machine as defined in claim 7 in which said block ofcheese is rectangular in cross-section, said cheese support includingmeans locating said cheese with one pair of diagonally opposite cornersof the block pointing vertically and the other pair of diagonallyopposite corners pointing horizontally whereby said block is oriented asa diamond with respect to said cutter, the movement of said paddle beingtimed such that said horizontal pointing corners are substantiallyspanned by said cutter at the time said paddle is positioned to spreadthe cheese across the major diameter of the pizza.
 14. A machine asdefined in claim 5 in which said cheese support includes spaced bladesat one end thereof extending across the path of advance of the cheese asthe latter is fed toward said shredding position, said blades beingoperable to slice said one face of the cheese into sections and engagingthe cheese to prevent the latter from being pulled further along saidpath by said cutter.